It also allows larger cylinders to be got in between the frames of inside cylinder engines, as, the slide valves may be placed on the top or bottom of the cylinders. This latter advantage is a great one, as, with the ordinary link motion, large cylinders are exceedingly difficult to design so as to get the requisite clear exhaust. The action of the gear is as follows: A rod, a, is fixed by a pin at b, on which it is free to turn, and is attached to a rod, c, at d, the other end of which link is fastened to the connecting rod at e. At the point, f, in this rod another lever, g, is connected to it, the upper end of which is coupled to the valve rod, h, at i, and just below this point a second connection is made to a block at j, sliding in a short curved piece, k. The inclination of the block, k, governs the travel of the valve. The total weight of the engine in working order is: On the leading wheels, 10 tons 8 cwt.; front drivers, 14 tons 4 cwt.; rear drivers, 13 tons 10 cwt.; total, 37.75 tons. The tender weighs 25 tons in full working order. The boiler pressure is 150 lb., and the usual point of cut-off in the high pressure cylinders, when running at speed, is half-stroke, while the pressure of steam admitted to the large cylinder is never to exceed 75 lb. per square inch.

The average consumption of coal between London and Crewe is 26.6 lb. per train mile, or about 8 lb. per mile less than the standard coupled engine. In an experiment made in October, 1883, one of these engines took the Scotch express from Euston to Carlisle at an average speed, between stations, of 44 miles an hour, the engine, tender, and train weighing 230 tons, with a consumption of 29½ lb. of coal per mile, and an evaporation of 8.5 lb. of water per pound of fuel.

Mr. Webb's object, in designing this engine was to secure in the first place a greater economy of fuel, and secondly, to do away with coupling rods, while at the same time obtaining greater adhesion, with the freedom of a single engine. The cost is much more than an ordinary locomotive, but the saving in fuel is said to be 20 per cent. over the other engines of the North Western Rail way. These engines run very sweetly, and are said to steam freely, although with only half the usual number of blasts; but from the small size of the high pressure cylinders, they are liable to slip when starting heavy trains, as the low pressure cylinders are not then effective, while the consumption of coal does not seem to show the saving that would have been expected, when compared with ordinary engines doing similar duty on other lines; for instance, the Great Northern single engine takes trains of the same weight with the same consumption of coal and at a somewhat higher speed. But it must, of course, be borne in mind in making such a comparison, that the fuel used may not be of the same quality.

Mr. Stirling, of the Great Northern, has adopted an entirely different type of engine to those last described. Holding strongly that single engines are more economical not only in running, but in repairs, and that cylinder power is generally inadequate to the adhesion, he has designed his magnificent well-known class of express engines. They have single driving wheels 8 ft. in diameter, with a four-wheel bogie in front and a pair of trailing wheels, 4 ft. diameter, behind. The frames are single, and inside of one solid piece; the cylinders are outside 18 in. diameter and 28 in. stroke; and the valve gear is of the usual shifting link description. The boiler is of Yorkshire plates, 11 ft. 5 in. long and 4 ft. diameter, and the steam pressure is 140 lb.; while the tractive power per lb. of steam in the cylinders is 94 lb. The fire-box is of copper, and the roof is stayed to the outer shell by wrought iron radiating stays screwed into both; a sloping mid-feather is placed in the fire-box.

FIG. 5. - GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY.

The tubes, 217 in number, are of brass, 1-9/16 in. diameter; and the heating surface is in the tubes, 1,043 square feet; fire-box, 122 square feet; total, 1,165 square feet. The fire-grate area is 17.6 square feet. The wheel base from the center of the bogie pin to the trailing axle is 19 ft. 5 in., and the weight in working order is, on the bogie wheels, 15 tons; driving wheels, 15 tons; trailing wheels, 8 tons; total, 38 tons. The tender weighs 27 tons. These engines are remarkable for their efficiency; the traffic of the Great Northern Railway is exceedingly heavy, and the trains run at a high rate, the average speed of the Flying Scotchman being fifty miles an hour, and no train in the kingdom keeps better time. "Those who remember this express at York in the icy winter of 1879-80, when the few travelers who did not remain thawing themselves at the waiting-room fires used to stamp up and down a sawdusted platform, under a darkened roof, while day after day the train came gliding in from Grantham with couplings like wool, icicles pendent from the carriage eaves, and an air of punctual unconcern; or those who have known some of our other equally sterling trains - these will hardly mind if friendship does let them drift into exaggeration when speaking of expresses." The author well remembers how, when living some years ago at Newcastle-on-Tyne, it was often his custom to stroll on the platform of the Central Station to watch the arrival of the Flying Scotchman, and as the hands of the station clock marked seven minutes past four he would turn around, and in nine cases out of ten the express was gliding into the station, punctual to the minute after its run of 272 miles.

Such results speak for themselves, and for the power of the engines employed, and one of the best runs on record was that of the special train, drawn by one of these locomotives, which in 1880 took the Lord Mayor of London, to Scarborough. The train consisted of six Great Northern coaches, and ran the 188 miles to York in 217 minutes, including a stop of ten minutes at Grantham, or at the average rate of 54½ miles an hour. The speed from Grantham to York, 82½ miles, with three slowing downs at Retford, Doncaster, and Selby, averaged 57 miles an hour, and the 59 miles from Claypole, near Newark, to Selby, were run in 60½ minutes, and for 22½ consecutive miles the speed was 64 miles an hour. In ordinary working these engines convey trains of sixteen to twenty-six coaches from King's-Cross with ease, and often twenty-eight are taken and time kept. Considering that the Great Northern main line rises almost continuously to Potter's Bar, 13 miles, with gradients varying from 1 in 105 to 1 in 200, this is a very high duty, while, with regard to speed, they have run with sixteen coaches for 15 miles at the rate of 75 miles an hour.